TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Early voters dropped off their ballots Friday, many preferring to skip the lines on Tuesday.
“I was able to fill in my ballot calmly in my home with my Googling apps and everything,” said Alondra Salazar, an early voter.
“Not being familiar with everything I wanted to get it out of the way in case I made a mistake somewhere,” said Rick Seaberg, an early voter.
Voting on election day can be intimidating. So Pima County has taken a few measures to make voters feel comfortable at the polls.
There’s a 75-foot limit around every voter site, so only voters and staff can go past this point. There’s also an Inspector and Marshall at each site to enforce the rules.
“They're just going to be aware of their surroundings making sure they keep everything under control, keeping those ballots safe," said Constance Hargrove, Pima County Elections Director. "They’re the first line of defense.”
Once you submit your ballot at a vote center it'll go into a locked gray box. Supervised poll workers will bring that box to the elections office to verify the signatures on each ballot. Then they'll take the ballots into nearby rooms where they’re checked for errors and fixed.
“Individuals who may spoil their ballot somehow or they mark two offices," Hargrove said. "They determine the intent of the voter, and create a new ballot that can run through the scanner.”
After going through three levels of verification, ballots are finally brought to the tabulation room. Pima County residents can watch this whole process online.
“And of course here we have the cameras that run 24/7 so anybody can watch these rooms as we’re processing,” Hargrove said.
On election day, voting centers are open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. The first results are released at around 8 p.m.
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